Roofing Professionals of Texas

OSHA’s requirement that states who administer their own occupational safety and health agencies adopt federal provisions related to residential fall protection has the National Roofing Contractors Association hot under the collar. One of the provisions is that fall protection is required in roofing work at heights of 6 feet or greater.  “OSHA has singled out this requirement as one that the states must meet or OSHA will take over enforcement of all construction workplace rules,” said the NRCA in a statement. The group contends that states who use a risk-based approach, where roof height is one of many factors considered when developing regulations, generally experience lower worker death and injury rates than comparable federal states. NRCA CEO Bill Good sent the following letter to Dean McKenzie, OSHA’s acting director of directorate of construction: Dear Mr. McKenzie: We are, of course, incredibly disappointed that you choose ...

Former Allstate executive turned whistleblower,  was in charge of a computer program called "Colossus" that calculates money people are paid in claims. He "tuned" the program to increase profits, which he says was unfair to customers. Mark Romano gripped the steering wheel and tried to keep his car from swerving into another commuter on the busy Illinois tollway. Stress?  It was December 2007, and Romano was a senior manager at Allstate and its top expert in Colossus, a program that calculates how much a person might be paid for an injury claim. He was in charge of two projects to “tune” and “recalibrate” Colossus, work he knew could affect payments to thousands of people. Colossus was part of a quiet revolution in the insurance industry.  Before the early 1990s, insurance was a decidedly human endeavor, especially when it came to setting rates and paying claims. To set premiums, insurers relied on computations from their actuaries — mathematical wizards armed with ...

Please be advised that this is an excerpt from  Dallas BBB's report on Deductible Fraud from  August 2012   Purpose On June 13, 2012, North Texas residents were pelted by a hailstorm which is estimated to eventually cost insurers a record $2 billion in insured losses. The previous hail damage record within the State of Texas was $1.1 billion caused by the 1995 Fort Worth Mayfest Storm. For months after the 2012 storm, residents in the hardest hit areas found themselves pelted once more by more roofing contractor advertising than they had ever seen. Each ad had its own unique leading pitch.   Some promoted their “66 years of experience.” Others promoted their “lifetime warranty.”   A riskier few skirted the line of insurance fraud by touting “Free Roofs-Call For Details” and “Ask Us How Your Deductible is Covered.” The practice is called “deductible assistance” by some and “deductible f...